


As Time Passes By

by Copperstown



Category: Shelter (2007)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-19
Updated: 2013-04-19
Packaged: 2017-12-08 23:09:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/767140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Copperstown/pseuds/Copperstown
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cody's various experiences at various ages. Please do not be scared off by the bad summary.</p>
            </blockquote>





	As Time Passes By

Cody is five years old when his uncle Zach gets a boyfriend. With Jeanne's many boyfriends coming and going, Cody knows what a boyfriend is (he asked Zach, because he was very curious about why his mother had so many men coming to the house only a few times, then never to be seen again, and so Zach had explained to him the basic concept of boyfriends). Of course, at five years old, Cody doesn't quite understand why Jeanne is so against it, or so against Shaun, and he doesn't understand why Zach doesn't tell anyone. At first, Cody doesn't even know Zach and Shaun are boyfriends, because Zach doesn't tell him, and he doesn't see anything. He just knows that they spend a lot of time with Shaun, Zach seemingly more than Cody. Zach spends many nights and days out of the house, and he's very vague when someone asks where he's been. And Cody knows that Zach suddenly seems happier than he has in a while, and later, when looking back at it, Cody knows that that was because of Shaun.

Cody is also five years old when he gets left behind by his own mother. This isn't something he really realizes at first, or at least not that it's a horrible thing of her to do, because he's too young to understand it. But he is sad when he watches, tucked under Shaun's arm, as his mother drives off with her boyfriend Alan. And he's a little upset, and Zach definitely is as well. The night is spent at Shaun's (which is actually not "Shaun's" as in his home, but his parents' house), and Shaun cooks dinner, allowing both Cody and Zach to request anything they want. Cody wants a hamburger, chocolate pancakes, and lots of candy. He gets it all. Zach is content with whatever Shaun makes for himself, so the two of them eat steaks, bakes potatoes, and share another bottle of red wine from Shaun's stepfather's collection. Jeanne calls later that night to tell them that they got to Portland, and there's a lot of loud music playing in the background. Cody barely gets to talk to her before Zach takes over, and Cody doesn't really care.

It's also when he's five that Cody moves to L.A. with his uncle and said uncle's boyfriend. They live in a nice apartment close to Zach's school, and not too far from the ocean, so they can easily go surfing, which is something Cody has quickly come to love. It's also close to what becomes Cody's first school. Cody quickly realizes that there aren't many kids in the apartment building, which Shaun explains is because many parents prefer houses over apartments when they have kids. He then goes on to explain that he bought the apartment before he knew Zach and Cody were coming with him, so that's why they don't have a house.

At five years old, shortly into the school year, Cody discovers that he's the only kid in his class at the elementary school who lives with two men. Since he's only five years old, he gets confused at this, and when he asks Shaun and Zach, they promise to explain it when he gets a little older.

Also at age five, Cody gets his first best friend that isn't an adult, but a kid his own age, during that first school year. A boy named Jimmy, who lives with his grandparents. They play a lot together, mostly at Jimmy's place, because Jimmy lives in a house and has a backyard they can run around in. And also, the old man living beneath Cody's home takes naps in the afternoon, and Cody doesn't want to disturb him by having a friend over. Zach and Shaun seem to think that this is very adorable of him. Sometimes, Cody brings Jimmy home, and sometimes when he does, Zach and Shaun are home and will take Cody and Jimmy out surfing. Jimmy isn't all that good at it, because he doesn't have an uncle who taught him, but he's quick to learn the gist of it, and they have a lot of fun when they try to surf (because Cody isn't that great at it himself yet, but he still thinks it's fun), and they like to watch Zach and Shaun when they surf, because they're really good at it.

 

Cody is six years old when the concept of sexuality is first explained to him. He and Jimmy ask the new kid, Victor, if he wants to play with them, but he declines the offer and says he's not allowed to play with Cody, because his parents think that Cody's uncles are unnatural. When Cody gets home that day, he asks Shaun and Zach why Victor's parents would think that, and they set him down and explain to him that most boys love girls, like his daddy had loved his mommy, and the same goes the other way around, like his mommy had liked all those boyfriends of hers. Boys loving other boys isn't all that common, but it's not unnatural, even though some people think that, and some people think it's disgusting, for one reason or another. Cody thinks this is stupid, and he tells Shaun and Zach as much. They laugh and tell him he's smart for thinking that.

Cody is also six years old when his mother and Zach come to the agreement that Cody is best off staying in L.A., since he has friends and goes to school there. Also, Jeanne is still dating Alan, and Alan still doesn't like kids, so Jeanne and Zach agree to have Cody stay in L.A. She calls one a week, every Sunday morning at ten, and she keeps to this schedule. She also promises to send him a gift for his birthday and Christmas. Cody's relieved when he hears. Not because he doesn't want to live with his mother, because he does, but he likes living with Zach and Shaun, he likes L.A., and he likes his friends. He doesn't want to move away from it all. And besides, he doesn't like Alan.

 

Cody is ten when he loses Jimmy as his best friend. It's a slow process, where Jimmy gradually starts avoiding him more and more, then begins ignoring him, and finally, tells Cody flat out that they can't be best friends anymore. They can't even be just friends. It shocks and confuses Cody, and he asks why. The answer he gets makes him angry, because Jimmy says he thinks Cody's uncles are gross. Cody almost punches him for it, but he gets held back by Arthur (one of Cody's friends). Jimmy gains a new best friend in Victor, and Arthur becomes Cody's best friend, even though Cody probably isn't Arthur's best friend, because Arthur has a lot of other friends.

Cody is also ten when his mother gets married to Alan. He, Zach and Shaun are all invited to the wedding, so Zach takes him shopping for a suit. During the reception, Alan makes polite conversation with Cody, to show that he doesn't mind him, and Cody is equally polite to show that he doesn't mind Alan and Jeanne marrying. Alan also makes an effort with Zach, which goes okay, but his effort with Shaun goes a little better. Jeanne tells Cody she thinks that's because Zach is more angry with Jeanne for giving him all responsibility for Cody partially because of Alan, and so Zach is kind of taking it out on him. Cody thinks she might be right. Shaun urges Zach to try and get along with his new brother-in-law, and although they don't get into any sort of fight or argument, it's very clear that their polite conversation is a little awkward and stiff and false. Neither Cody or Shaun can really blame them for it.

It's also when he's ten that Cody goes to Europe for the first time. Shaun and Zach take him to Paris over spring break. They travel on Monday and go home again on Saturday, so they have plenty of time to see all the sights that one must see in Paris. They spend two hours queuing at the foot of the Eiffel tower, but Cody insists on going up, so they stick it out and stay in the line. They also take a walk down the Champs-Elysées and wonder who the fuck has enough money to buy anything there. They go to the Louvre, but only stay for about an hour before it gets too boring for Cody and they leave again. On Friday, they buy rollerblades and join a weekly rollerblade festival of sorts in the streets. Shaun and Zach quickly get the hang of it, but Cody is like Bambi on ice, and they have to constantly keep a hold on him to make sure that he doesn't fall.

 

Cody is eleven when he starts junior high school. It's a whole new system, because they don't play anymore, and getting friends isn't about who's good at playing, unless it's about video games. Even then, it's no guarantee. The concept of popularity gets introduced to Cody, and he doesn't know if he'll be popular or get many friends. Zach tells him not to worry about that, and just make sure he gets real friends, and, preferably, the right kind of friends.

Cody is also eleven when he gets his new best friend. He and Arthur have remained very good friends, but Cody knows Arthur has other friends he wants to hang out with as well, and so Cody searches for a new best friend. He finds it in his science class, when he's paired up with a guy named Jensen. Jensen likes science, and he likes when things turn funny colors or explodes, so he easily secures their project an A. Since they spend so much time together working on this project, both in class and after school, they become really good friends. When Jensen comes to school with dark blue hair dye and asks Cody if he'll dye his hair for him, because his parents won't do it, he calls Cody his best friend, and Cody doesn't argue that, so from that moment on, they're officially best friends.

It's also when he's eleven that Cody learns what it means to be gay and straight. By that, he mostly just learns what the words mean, because he's known about sexualities for a long time. He learns what it means to be gay and straight, and that being gay isn't always accepted in society. Not everyone accepts gay people (in fact, Cody gets a little shocked at how many people seem to think that being gay is either weird or downright gross). But with these new additions to his inner dictionary, he learns that his uncle is indeed gay, and so is Shaun. And this explains to him why he lost Jimmy as a best friend and why Victor wouldn't play with him. Jimmy thought that Zach and Shaun were gross for being gay, and Victor's parents thought just about the same thing. It makes Cody fume, and rant to Jensen, because what does it matter that some people love a person of the same sex? Jensen agrees with him, which makes Cody very happy. Shaun tells him later that Jensen is a great and true best friend. Jensen tells Cody that it's probably not such a good idea to tell everyone that he lives with his gay uncle and said uncle's boyfriend, at least not initially, because far from everyone will accept this. Zach and Shaun both look a little sad when Cody tells them what Jensen has told him, but they agree with Jensen nonetheless.

At eleven, Cody also gets his first girlfriend and thereby, his first kiss. Her name is Porsche, which Cody thinks is really weird, because what kind of parent names their daughter after a car? But despite the weird name, Porsche is great. She's really nice and funny, and has a cute giggle. She also has long blonde hair and big blue eyes, and she says her parents call her the perfect Scandinavian supermodel. Neither of them know what that means, and when Cody asks Zach and Shaun, they laugh and explain that a classic person from Scandinavia (which they also have to explain to him is a term for three countries in the very northern Europe; Denmark, Sweden, and Norway) has blonde hair and blue eyes. Cody and Porsche have their first kiss in the school parking lot, while waiting for the bus. Cody takes the initiative. After that, they're going steady, and they're together like that for two whole months before Cody breaks it off. It's an awkward thing to do, he realizes. He asks Shaun and Zach how he should do it, and they tell him to be nice about it, but let her know it's final, and to expect that she might cry. She doesn't, fortunately, but she runs away from him shortly after he tells her.

 

Cody is fourteen when he starts high school and comes to the realization that he will never be popular there. Most people have, by this point, learnt about Cody living with his gay uncle Zach and Zach's boyfriend Shaun. This seems to be grounds for teasing and exclusion from social events for a lot of the other guys in his high school. Jensen says they can all go fuck themselves for being so dumb (he really says that, and one of the teachers glares at him for it), and Cody appreciates that. He's pretty sure Jensen will always be his awesome best friend.

Cody is also fourteen when the details of gay sex get explained to him. He already knows about straight sex, or whatever it's called, thanks to not-so-lovely lessons in junior high, and some of the more testosterone-ruled boys in junior high, who bought porno magazines and brought them to school. Cody learned about sex during those years. But when he's fourteen, he finds out about gay sex, which is both a little interesting (he's a teenage guy, so sex interests him, and he's not close-minded when it comes to sexuality. He can't be when he lives with two gay guys. So he's a little interested in the workings of gay sex), and a little disgusting, because now he suddenly knows exactly what Zach and Shaun get up to, and very vivid images start forming in his head, and that's not something he wants to think about again. Ever. For the rest of his life. Jensen apparently thinks of the same things, because he's spent so much time with Zach and Shaun that he knows them fairly well. It's a stupid, homophobic guy named Luke who decides to be nasty and tell them the details about gay sex, to which Cody just responds by asking him how he knows that, making Luke blush. But it's Cody and Jensen who are blushing later, when they get home to Cody's, and see Shaun and Zach playing around with a wet towel. They're only cleaning, but it makes Jensen and Cody stop in their tracks and then run into Cody's room to hide.

It's also at fourteen that Cody gets his first serious girlfriend. He's had a few girlfriends since Porsche (Mary, Sarah, Cathy, and Kim), but his first serious girlfriend is Georgia. They meet in history, where they're paired up to do a project on native Americans together. Georgia is very pretty, with long dark hair, fair skin, and grayish eyes. She's not super intelligent, but she's not dumb, and she's cute when she's slow to answer a question. And Georgia is great because she fully respects that Cody likes to hang out with Jensen and their friends, and likes to spend time with Shaun and Zach. She doesn't care, as long as Cody still spends a little time with her, and he does. He takes her out on dinner dates when he can get the money together for it. That's probably the reason why they're together for as long as they are. Ten full months, before they just sort of glide apart, and eventually, they decide to break up. It doesn't matter that Cody fully agreed with Georgia that they should break up, he's still sad about it. Zach tells him it's very normal to be sad about a breakup, no matter the circumstances. Jensen keeps him occupied with video games and a chemistry project, to keep Cody from thinking too much about Georgia. Shaun says that Jensen is the greatest best friend Cody could ask for, and Cody easily agrees with that.

 

Cody is fifteen when he has his first gay experience. He's very open-minded about experimenting with your sexuality, what with living with two men and all that. He gets a little tipsy at a party and a guy named Darren, who's been out and proud for half a year, starts chatting him up. It's weird to be on the receiving end of a boy's attention like that, but Cody lets Darren do it anyway. Darren asks him if he's gay, and Cody replies that he's never tried it, so he doesn't really know, but so far he's only ever liked girls, however, he's not labeling himself just yet. Darren seems surprised at it, and they spend a few minutes talking about sexuality and whether someone can truly know their sexuality without trying a little of both. By the end of the night, Cody has agreed to do a little experimenting with Darren, so they go back to his. They kiss a lot, make out even more, Darren gives him a blowjob, Cody gives Darren and handjob, and they try a little grinding and touching. By three thirty, they've finished, and Cody heads home. He's very careful not to make any noise and wake Zach and Shaun. When get gets up the following day, Zach asks him exactly when he got in, and all Cody can do is blush. That evening, they all three (Cody, Shaun, and Zach) sit down and have a very long chat about sexuality, and Cody eventually decides that the blowjob was nice, but the rest was awkward, so he's about ready to label himself as straight.

Cody is also fifteen when he loses his virginity. He loses it to his girlfriend Rebecca, on a night where Shaun and Zach are out (celebrating their ten-year anniversary at a hotel, and Cody is sort of glad that they celebrate at a hotel). So Cody uses the opportunity to invite Rebecca over for a movie and a make-out sessions, and it doesn't take much before they decide to take it to the next level. Rebecca's not a virgin herself, but she's only had sex two times before, with her previous boyfriend, so neither of them are particularly experienced. And Cody is thankful for that because he's nervous enough as it is. If Rebecca had known a lot more about sex, what's right and what's wrong, then Cody would probably have been a wreck. But it goes alright. It's not bad, but as Shaun says, the first pancake is never the best. Rebecca stays the night and leaves after eating breakfast with Cody. Half an hour later, Zach and Shaun come home. They talk for a few minutes about what they did and ask Cody what he did, and then it takes them about seven seconds to figure out what he and Rebecca got up to the previous night. Shaun laughs a little and ruffles his hair. Zach asks if they were careful, and when Cody says yes, then both Shaun and Zach smile and congratulate him. The next time they see Gabe, he welcomes Cody to the big leagues, and Cody feels a little awkward. But then again, he often feels awkward around Gabe. It just happens.

It's also at fifteen that Cody has been living in Los Angeles with his uncle Zach and Zach's very steady boyfriend Shaun for ten years, and he's loved it all.


End file.
